Box or crate.



G. A. MUGOWN.

BOX 0R CRATE.

PPLIUATION FILED 111111.11, 1910.

Patented Mar.21`,1911.

. Illml 1HE NoRRls PETERS cc., wAsmNoraN. D. c.

CHARLES A. IVICGOWN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BOX OR CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Application filed August 8, 1910. Serial No. 576,177.

To all whom it may concern:

Be .it known that I, CHARLES A. MoGowN, a citizen ot the United States,residing at N ew York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boxes or Crates;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription ot' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appert-ains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in boxes or crates.

The object ot' the invention is to provide a box or crate having itssides, ends, top and bottom in the form of one or more panelsconstructed. of any suitable material and held in position by grooved orchanneled corner pieces which are secured together by metal cornerbraces.

lVith this and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement ot' parts as.will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a horizontal sectional view ofa box embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a sectional view through thebox having its sides made up of a plurality ot vertical panels showingthe construction of the frame for holding the panels in place; Fig. 3 isa detail perspective view of `one corner of the box showing the cornerbrace; Fig. 4L is a plan view of the blank from which the corner braceis formed.

My improved box comprises a frame made up of a series ot vertical cornerpieces l and horizontal corner pieces 2, said vertical and horizontalcorner pieces being preferably of rectangular shape in cross section andhaving formed in their inner sides longitudinal grooves or channels 3adapted to receive the panels forming the top, bottom and sides of thebox. The corner pieces are of suitable length for forming a box of thedesired size and shape and said corner pieces are fastened together atthe upper.;` and lower corners of the box by the corner braceshereinafter described.

The top, bottom, sides and ends of the box may be formed of a singlepanel l or of a plurality of panels 5. The panels 5 may be of anydesired shape and have their outer edges engaged with the channels 3 inthe corner pieces l and 2 while their inner edges are engaged withchannels 6 formed in suitably arranged division strips 7 the outer endsof which are secured to the corner strips of the box in any suitablemanner. The corner strips and division strips may be ot any suitablewidth and thickness to have sufficient strength for supporting the sizedbox for which they are employed. The panels 5 may be formed of any kindof composition or fiber board, thin wood or a combination of fiber boardand a veneering of wood, or said panels may be formed ot glass, metal orany other suitable material.

It desired one side or end of the box may be made removable to form acover. Then the top is formed ol a single panel the outer edge of saidpanel has secured thereto a strip or corner piece 9 which will take theplace of the corner piece of the frame at this end or side ot the boxand will loosely engage the adjacent ends of the fixed corner pieceswhen the cover is in closed position. The regular corner pieces 2 ot'the trame in this instance will be arranged between the adjacentvertical corner pieces l in a lowered position to permit the end vcornerpiece of the cover panel to slide over the lowered corner piece 2 whenthe cover panel is closed. The edges of the panel forming the cover willslidably engage the grooves or channels in the inner sides of the otherside and end corner pieces thus holding the cover panel in position.When the cover is made up of two or more panels 5 said panels will beseparated by a division strip l0 similar to the division strip 7 andsaid division strip 10 will be secured to the edge of one of the coverpanels while the engaging edge of the adjoining panel will enter andloosely engage the groove or channel on the opposite side of thedivision strip 10 thus forming a tight interlocking connection betweenthe panels forming the cover. The opposite ends of the division strip 10for the cover will slidably engage the inner edges of the main side orend corner pieces thus permitting the cover sections to be openedtogether or independently ot each other as may be desired.

In order to rigidly secure the ends of the vertical and horizontalcorner pieces together where they join to form the upper and lowercorners of the :trame I provide corner braces l1. These corner braces 11are formed from a metal plate l2 Cut in vsuch manner as to provide apair of bracing strips 13 arranged vat a right angle each otherand apair of shorter bracing strips or Larms 14C extending from the bodyportion in the opposite direction but respectively in lline with thestrips or arms 13. Between the strips or arms 13 and parallel therewithare bracing strips or arms 15.

tion 12 resting upon the upper side of' one horizontal corner piece 2and passing between the same and the low'er end of the vertical cornerpiece 1, it being understood that thek end of on-e horizontal cornerpiece bears vagainst the inner side of the meeting horizontalcornerrpiece at the extremity of the fsarne.- The inner bracing strips'14 in this position will extend-over the upper surfaces of thehorizontal'corner pieces at lthe inner sides vof the panels and they arenailed, or

spectively bear, thus fastening and securely' bracing the corner of thebox. The strips '13 and 15 which are bent downwardly will also be bentunder the corner piece rand the longer strip or arm will extend acrosslthe adjacent corner piece 2 and under theend of the meeting piece 2 soas to be securedV to both horizontal corner pieces. It will thus be seenthat a holding and bracing arm isV secured to each outer side of thevertical corner piece and to'both horizontal corner pieces so that themembers will b e held ,Y

rlphe braceL thusformedl is arranged with its body porfirmly togetherand a .very secure corner joint provided.

In the foregoing description I have referred specifically to the lowercorner shown in Fig. 3, but it will be understood that the constructionis duplicated at all the corners of the box, the parts being reversed atthe upper corners. y

Having thus described my invention what I claim 1s:

1. The combination of horizontal corner pieces, a vertical corner piecerising therefrom, and a corner brace having a body portion resting on ahorizontal corner piece beneath the end of the vertical corner piece,and arms extending from said body portion in opposite directions andsecured respectively to the upper sides of the horizontal corner piecesat the inner portions thereof and to the outer sides of the horizontalcorner pieces and the outer sides of the vertical corner piece.

2. A corner brace for crates comprising a body portion, a pair of armsextending therefrom at right angles to each other, a pair of arms atright angles to each other extending from the body portion in theopposite direction and respectively in line with the first-mentionedarms, and a pair of arms projecting from the body portion between andrespectively adjacent and parallel with the last-mentioned arms.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES A. MCGOVVN.

Witnesses WILLIAM DONNELLY, BERNARD COHEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained forve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

